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Will Yankees pick Nolan Arenado over Manny Machado?

Manny Machado may not be wearing pinstripes in the 2019 season, but another third baseman could be a potential target next winter.

The New York Yankees were always in the race for free agent third baseman Manny Machado. Of course they were never going publicly say they were out of the race, but after signing DJ LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki it looks like their infield is simply too crowded to bring in Machado.

While Yankees fans are up in arms about Hal Steinbrenner not shelling out the big bucks for Machado it’s not the end of the world. For starters the roster this year is still one of the best in baseball, and will compete for a World Series title.

That’s not enough for some fans though. This is the New York Yankees we’re talking about here. They don’t save money, they spend it. So who can they spend money on if it’s not going to be Machado?

Well if they’re patient enough there’s another third baseman in Colorado that is set to be a free agent next winter.

Current Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado has one more year of arbitration after this season then he’s a free agent in 2020 if he and the Rockies can’t agree to an extension. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic mentioned the possibility of the Yankees waiting for Arenado back in November, and it’s not that crazy of an idea.

Arenado is only a little over a year older than Machado so age really isn’t much of a factor here. Both guys have been durable throughout their careers. Arenado has only been on the DL once in career due to a broken finger back in 2014. The number they put up are pretty much the same as well so where’s the difference?

The difference, while it might not matter to some is that there’s never even been a whisper about Arenado not playing hard every day.

He’s been through some rough seasons on a Rockies team that has only made the postseason twice in his career. A chance to join a perennial contender like the Yankees could be just the convincing he needs to leave Colorado.

Should the Rockies be unable to extend Arenado, and Yankees fans survive another year of Miguel Andujar (which isn’t the worst thing in the world) then he just might be the splash signing Yankees fans want.